Escaping Reality

and the creation of the
    pyramids, “if you could incorporate a museum into the project your
    building and get non-profit funding to offset the expense.”
    I lean back in my seat and suddenly realize that Derek and Liam are
    gone and I didn’t even know they left. “If you’re just a secretary,” Mike
    announces, “you’re a wasted commodity.”
    “I, ah, thank you.” I stare at the empty seats, feeling a frisson of
    unease. “Excuse me if you will, Mike. I’m going to run to the ladies’ room.” I
    push to my feet and waste no time rushing away, scanning for Liam and
    Derek, and decide I’ll take a trip to the bathroom and use the privacy to call
    Liam.
    I’m about to head into the bathroom when I hear Liam’s voice
    coming from a balcony just opposite where I’m standing. I move in that
    direction and stop dead when I hear, “Did you get the data off her
    computer?”
    “All of it,” Derek says. “Including the camera.”
    “So the camera feed is live?”
    “Hot as a day in Texas. Are you sure you have her under control?”
    “I can handle Amy. You just get me what I need.”
    The word “Texas” rolls around in my head several times and hits me
    like a hard punch in the gut. I bolt, my heart is in my throat, adrenaline
    surging through me to the point where I’m shaking. I arrive at the elevator
    and punch the button a good ten times until it opens, and I all but lunge
    inside the car. I hold my breath, waiting for the doors to close, certain I will
    be discovered.
    When finally the car is moving, I inhale deeply, willing my pulse to
    slow so I can think. This doesn’t mean Liam is the bad guy. It doesn’t.
    Maybe he dug into my past. Maybe he’s trying to help me. But why would
    he film me? Why? Why? Why? I was falling in love with him. I am in love
    with him. The idea that he and I were nothing but a facade cuts me deeply.
    I want to believe in him and us, but I do not dare risk trusting him. I have to
    survive first, and I need a plan.
    Think, Amy. Think. You have to get out of here. Leave the state. Leave
    tonight. The elevator opens on the bottom floor and I know there are
    cameras everywhere, easily tracking my departure. I run through the empty
    lobby and ignore the security guard behind the desk, exiting the building
    and immediately cutting to my right. I pause momentarily to remove my
    shoes before running several blocks until I spot a cab and hail it.
    I climb inside. “Where to, lady?”
    Where to? Where to? My cell phone rings and I am smart enough to
    know that not only can the GPS chip be used to follow me, Liam has the
    money to make it happen. With my heart in my throat, I roll down the
    window and toss the phone outside, my thoughts bouncing all over the
    place with my emotions. I need a fake ID I can’t get until tomorrow. And I
    need to be close to Evernight so I can try to reach my handler one last time.
    I lean forward to talk to the driver. “There’s a hotel called Cherry
    Creek Inn, in Cherry Creek North. Take me there.” I hesitate, then add, “But
    stop by a twenty-four-hour Walmart first.” I need supplies and a cash
    machine.
    Forty-five minutes later, I step into the hotel room I’ve paid for in
    cash with Liam’s words playing in my head. Run to me, Amy, not from me.
    Angrily, I swipe at the tears that slip down my cheeks. I’m not going to cry
    over him. I’m not. I’m not going to cry at all.
    I dump the contents of my shopping bag on the bed. A cheap pair of
    tennis shoes, a couple of tank tops and pairs of shorts, a few toiletries. I
    remove the wad of cash from my purse that I pulled from Liam’s credit card
    and toss it down as well. Tomorrow I’ll clean out my New York accounts,
    get a fake ID to travel with so that Amy Bensen will never be traceable as
    leaving town, and then I’m gone.
    “I’m not running at all, Liam,” I whisper. I’m going back to Texas.

The End....
    Look for the exciting conclusion of The Secret Life of Amy Bensen in
    Infinite Possibilities coming very soon!